Areas of intervention for enhancing the knowledge of safe driving: An experience in West Bengal, India

Abstract

Road safety is a global concern, and India is considered to be the most unsafe for road users, accounting for almost 11% of the accident-related deaths. With 80% of road accidents occurring due to driving error, lack of safe driving knowledge was found to be the root cause of accidents in India. This paper reports an investigation for identifying areas of interventions for enhancing the safe driving knowledge of drivers. Responses were collected from trainers of motor training schools as they have vast experience of driving in Indian road and traffic environment, understand the requirements of knowledge for safe driving and are also aware of the present level of emphasis on different aspects of safe driving. Responses from over 250 trainers of Motor Training Schools in West Bengal, India, were recorded. The collected data includes the importance of various aspects of safe driving knowledge and knowledge adequacy of the drivers in the present scenario on Likert-type scales. The safe driving aspects considered in the study are roadway elements, road signs and markings, general and vehicle-specific safe driving rules, complex and sensitive environment, vulnerable road users, attitude and alertness, accident and emergencies, first aid, and legal aspects. The study employs Revised Importance Performance Analysis with fuzzy c-means algorithm to identify intervention areas based on trainers’ perception. The safe driving aspects were classified under two management schemes, namely ‘Concentrate Here’ and ‘Next Priority’. Knowledge of Alertness and Attitude, Road Rules, Road Signs, and Road Markings were identified as major areas of intervention.